Mass Effect 3 Takes Back Earth As The GT Game of the Week

With just a few days to go until the release of BioWare's Mass Effect 3, hype for the game has reached an all-time high. With viewers voting it as the "Most Anticipated Game of 2012" at the most recent Spike VGAs, it's safe to say that there are a WHOLE LOT of you counting down the seconds until you can continue your quest to stop the Reapers as Commander Shepard and conclude the epic trilogy once and for all.

Whether you're planning on attending a midnight launch event or not, chances are you've been tracking the game's road to release like it was a Prothean artifact in need of finding. From the single and multiplayer demo to the amazing "Take Back Earth" and Official Launch trailers to recently be released, the days and weeks leading up to the impending launch have been filled with equal parts excitement and anticipation.

Of course, things will be a bit different this time around for the series as ME3 truly becomes a game for the masses by simultaneously launching on the Xbox 360, PC, AND PS3 on March 6, 2012. While all copies of the game will come complete with an intricate, rewarding story experience and plenty of action-packed moments, certain copies of Mass Effect 3 have achieved legendary status by venturing into space and enduring highly publicized, rather precarious attempts to take back earth with their landings.

With that in mind, we spent the last few days leading up to launch celebrating Mass Effect 3 as the GT Game of the Week over on our Facebook and Twitter pages. There we offered up interesting facts about the game, asked our community to vote in ME3-related polls, and even gave you the opportunity to go one-on-one with BioWare's Casey Hudson. Since you have at least a few more hours to kill before you get your hands on the game, I'm inviting you to check out a synopsis of the content offered throughout the past week while checking out Casey's answers to our fan-submitted questions. So, dive in below and be sure to hit up the comments section to let us know how you're feeling about this week's launch of the GT Game of the Week – Mass Effect 3.

First up is a Q/A with BioWare's Casey Hudson. Thanks to all of you who submitted questions over on the GT Facebook page and of course thanks to Casey for taking the time to answer them!

Brian Choi: How do you maintain enthusiasm for a game of this size and development cycle? Besides hiring new talent, what else does it take at a managerial level to keep Bioware studios amped and providing its best foot forward on all disciplines during the development of such a long trilogy of games?

CH: One thing we’ve added over the course of the series is a really strong staff of Producers. Producers are leaders within the team that help to arrange groups to deliver entire portions of the game. They also help ensure the team has strong morale, and with the help of BioWare’s Department Directors they ensure team members get the rewards and training they need.

Anthony Cole: What process did you use to keep track of the story elements that change based on the player in every game?

CH: Much of it is documented, but we do rely on the expertise of our writing, design, and QA teams to hold the vast array of knowledge about the Mass Effect storyline.

Sofy Kabachek: You and your team did a great job making an intricate universe with which you get to interact in a meaningful way, and we, the players, developed significant relationships with some of the NPC. Can you talk about the work that went into evolving these characters and relationships further in ME3?

CH: We like to create an ensemble cast of really different personalities, so different players can find characters that the love or hate. We also give each character a development arc, where first impressions later turn to something deeper if you take the time to get to know them.

Sam Becker: What was the ultimate idea that spawned the Mass Effect franchise?

CH: The Mass Effect core team also worked on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. After that game, we wanted to continue making huge science fiction stories, but we wanted it to be more of a familiar gameplay style, and we wanted to create a universe that was designed around interactive storytelling. Those goals became the initial seeds of what became the Mass Effect series.

Steven Thomas Schneider: How has your team worked with the idea of multiple endings? In addition to this, how difficult/easy was it to come up with an ending(s) that you thought would be satisfying for series fans?

CH: Much of our excitement about working on ME3 was the idea of creating a very satisfying and definitive ending. We also wanted the endings to reflect the way you’ve played – displaying a sense of how successful you’ve been in fighting the reapers, but also representing the values you’ve expressed by making choices throughout the series.

Daniel Coleman: What's your favorite (ME) character? Or story arc?

CH: I’ve really enjoyed being a part of creating the Illusive Man, who is voiced by Martin Sheen. He’s a very unique character, and I love hearing people talk about whether or not the agree with his position and motives. A highlight of working on the series was being present for Martin Sheen’s final voice session, where he delivered a jaw-dropping performance.

Lucas Bogan: Male or female Shep – which do you prefer?

CH: I always alternate, and my enjoyment of a Shepard has more to do with how I create and play them than their gender. But I did really enjoy playing ME3 as the new default female Shepard appearance that was made for ME3.

In addition to getting your questions answered, we asked the GT Community to vote in polls pertaining to the game throughout the week. Below are the results with the answer rank reflecting your votes over on the GT Facebook page.

Lastly, the team at BioWare provided us with a few interesting facts surrounding the game that we shared with you on Twitter and Facebook this past week. If you missed them, check them out below so you can drop some interesting knowledge and impress the folks standing in line with you on launch night. You can see pictures associated with each post over on the GT Facebook page where you'll also find a slew of images inside the ME3 gallery that we uploaded throughout the week.

• In Mass Effect 3, the Brute is a mutilated Krogan body with a Turian head, making for a grisly synthesis of two species whose planets were closely linked in the invasion plan.

• In the Mass Effect universe Sur’Kesh, the Salarian home world, was inspired by a shopping center in Istanbul.

• The original shape for Sovereign was based on a leaf insect nymph, which gives these Reapers their distinctive silhouette.

Well, that puts a wrap on Mass Effect 3 as the GT Game of the Week, but we'll of course be delivering the content and conversation you crave in the days ahead as ME3 takes center stage on GameTrailers.com and our Twitter and Facebook pages. Be sure to watch for our full video review and, when not playing, hit up one of the many conversations we'll be hosting in the comments to speak your mind on the Shepard's last stand against the Reapers. Personally, Tuesday can't come soon enough, but I'm just as anxious to hear everyone's thoughts on the game once you've had the chance to play it.

For all of the latest Mass Effect 3 media, hit up the game's official page right here on GT.